off-road vehicles

In a split decision, a federal appeals court panel in Denver ruled Tuesday that Kane County had no authority to remove signs restricting off-highway vehicle use, and put up new signs inviting such use, in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and other areas overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

We support a proposal by the Obama administration to cut by more than half the number of machines allowed each day this winter. There is no doubt that 318 — the proposed daily limit — is much better than 720 per day, the number allowed last winter under a Bush administration rule. But we prefer an even smaller number: zero.

Hundreds of miles of dirt roads and trails cut through northern New Mexico's mountains. The hard part is deciding which ones to keep open and which to close.

It's a scenario that's playing itself out across the country as the U.S. Forest Service tries to designate by 2010 a system of motorized routes that will provide recreational opportunities while still protecting America's natural resources.

Based on surveys of National Forest visitors, backpackers, car campers, and downhill and cross-country skiers are the most likely groups to come from out of town and spend at least one night. Less than a quarter of ATV trips are nonlocal and overnight, and spending per trip is lower than for other recreationists -- about $162, including $43 for gas. By way of comparison, downhill skiers spend $342, cross-country skiers $335, and hikers and bikers $246.

Colorado — with about 27.1 million forest visitors, more than any other state — is ground zero in the effort to stop riders and hikers from bushwhacking their own trails and in sorting out the sometimes conflicting uses.

"People go to the forest with expectations — a quiet hike, motoring through the woods. When those expectations clash, you get tensions," said Peter Newman, a Colorado State University professor studying natural resources and recreation.

Ever since European settlement of the West, there has been dust, caused by outside forces breaking the fragile crust that holds undisturbed desert soil in place. Initially, grazing cattle kicked up the dust. Scientists say it is now more likely to be caused by off-road vehicles, mountain bikers or energy exploration. In a study last year, Neff found that the amount of dust in the Rockies is five times greater than before the late 19th century.

"This is really the story of the wholesale transformation of the West," Painter said.

Kane County Commissioner Mark Habbeshaw told a group of ATV riders Saturday: "We're mad as hell and aren't going to take [it] anymore."

His remark was met with cheers from more than 300 all-terrain and off-highway vehicle owners at a rally outside Kanab before the group got the command, "Let's ride." They went en masse out to the Paria River to ride their machines up the muddy stream in a protest over federal restrictions on use.

The scene Landry witnessed that day was the most severe example of a phenomenon that has overtaken parts of the West this year, one that could exacerbate a slew of environmental problems there in the years to come. The Colorado Rockies, including the headwaters of the Colorado River and the Rio Grande, have experienced 11 serious dust storms this year, a record for the six years researchers have been tracking them.

The article implied that problems would fade if more land were made available for all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles. But this conclusion is widely contradicted by empirical evidence. For example, a University of Utah study found that about half of ATV riders surveyed prefer riding off designated routes, which means illegally. Dilution is not the solution.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Wilderness Society has received a $125,000 grant from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund of San Francisco to protect public lands in California from damage caused by unregulated use of dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles.